Antarctic

Magic caves are found in many of the icebergs that stand out among the sea ice.

After a morning of fishing, these King Penguins meet up at the local beach.

This Leopard Seal is taking a break on the ice floe, whilst on a small iceberg (out of shot) three Adélie Penguins are making sure they stay out of the water.

Like something out of The Lost World, the mist keeps a little bit of mystery to Auckland Island.

Resting King Penguin.

New Zealand Fur Seal pup.

After climbing up a few rocks this New Zealand Fur Seal pup looks out over the Southern Ocean.

A Northern Giant Petrel chick waiting for its parents to arrive with food.

Looking out over North West Bay at Campbell Island. The wind is so strong that standing is difficult.

This creek bridges the gap from the sea to a large royal penguin rookery.

Penguins find safety in numbers, this rope was a little confusing for them. Is it edible?

A Southern Rockhopper Penguin chilling out on a rock on Christmas Eve.

The Ross Seal is an uncommon and relatively unknown animal, considered to be the least common pack ice seal.

Feeding time for the little chick as this family of Royal Penguins rests on their rocky nest.

Royal Penguin.

Once the Southern Elephant Seals start to grow up, their level of cute drops... This is a teenage male (Sub Adult Male - SAM) Southern Elephant Seal. To the left of the picture is one of the boilers that remain from when sealers lived on Macquarie Island. Seals and Penguins would be put into the boilers so that oil could be extracted from the animals.

A King Penguin calling out for its chick in a rookery of thousands.

Southern Skua.

The remains of a larger icebergs make for a fun obstacle course.

Southern Elephant Seal pups are very curious and playful animals.

A Snares Crested Penguin standing guard.

With the sun shining the Snares Crested Penguins are out for a swim to find some lunch and have a play in the sub-Antarctic.

This small island has many caves and inlets supporting a large number of birds, penguins and fur seals.

Snow Petrels spend their days in Antarctica and along the ice edge.

Combined they take up more space than this beach has to offer. This is the largest King Penguin colony on Macquarie Island numbering over 130,000 birds.

A pair of Southern Royal Albatross reunite after one spent the past few days fishing, whilst the other sat on the nest. Tomorrow they will swap roles.

Adélie Penguin.

Iceberg.

A couple of Southern Elephant Seal pups observing the humans on their path.

King Penguins.

The sun is rises over an amazing sea of ice. To the right of the picture an Adélie penguin waits one of the ice floes.

There are a few places around Macquarie Island that have relics from the sealers that once lived there. From parts of old carts, to boilers and even large pots.

After a bit of scrub bashing we arrived at the top of the hill for amazing views, and nesting grounds for White-capped Albatross.

The Yellow Eyed Penguin is the shyest of the penguin species. This one is navigating its way back to the nest after a day of fishing.